THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA: EMPOWERING LEARNERS FOR SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE THROUGH QUALITY EDUCATION IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN CROSS RIVER STATE.

Abstract

This study investigated the role of education in the sustainable development agenda: Empowering students for sustainable practice through quality education in University of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. The Survey research design was used for this study. The population of the study was made up of five hundred (500) environmental education students in university of Calabar. The simple random sampling technique was used for the selection of 234 environmental education students used for the study. A structured questionnaire entitled ‘Education and Sustainable Development Agenda Questionnaire (ESDAQ)’ developed by the researcher was used for data collection. Independent t-test was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that reorienting curriculum and divers teaching strategies significantly influenced or empower learners for sustainable practice. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that; the curriculum should be reoriented to address sustainable development in the society, divers teaching strategies geared empowering students’ sustainable practice should be adopted, the process of implementing sustainable development curriculum should be students’ oriented, among others